New report says Texas graduation rate is at nearly 75 percent

A new Education Week report says that nearly 75 percent of all Texas public high school students earn a regular diploma. The 2013 study examines national graduation data from the class of 2010.

Texas is one of 10 states posting a double-double increase in graduation rates during the past decade. Overall, American high schools have made great strides, rising to the highest graduation level (74.7 percent) since 1973.

"A decade ago, as concerns about the nation’s graduation rate were just starting to gain public attention, only two-thirds of U.S. students were finishing high school with a diploma," said Christopher B. Swanson, vice president of Editorial Projects in Education, the nonprofit organization that publishes Education Week.

"Now, the graduation rate for America’s public schools stands just shy of 75 percent. At the current pace of improvement, the graduation rate could reach an all-time high within the next few years."

The most recent graduation rate is nearly two percentage points higher than 2009 and eight points higher than the past decade. Latino and black students are driving these gains, with double-digit increases in diplomas.

Nevertheless, Editorial Projects in Education estimates that 1 million students will fail to graduate with the class of 2013, and there is 30-point disparity between graduation rates of Asian Americans (81 percent) and Native Americans (51 percent).